Last time I wore this blouse was an office look and this time I just wanted to dress it down for a more casual look. It's one of my favorite tops, although I've got a little obsession with printed blouses. See the below instagram pic for exhibit A) :)

Sep 27, 2012

I posted this pic on my Instagram (follow me: tiffanyish) of my makeup brushes after they went through a washing and @jmpwiji asked for suggestions on a set of basic make up brushes for every day make up. I realized that I've never posted about my love of brushes before so wanted to do a round up of my favorites and recommendations.

Obviously, I'm a little nuts and love my make up brushes and you don't really need this many. This is a collection of brushes after many years of buying brushes and sometimes I buy them individually and sometimes I buy them as sets which then results in many multiple brushes but the good part about having all these brushes is that I can go a bit longer in washing my brushes since I always have doubles for back up!

My brushes are a mix of Stila, EcoTools, MAC, Sephora and a brand that I found in China.

The below are my every day essentials. I use them daily and could not do my make up without them.

EcoTools Foundation Brush - obviously for foundation but I also use this to dab on my under eye concealerBamboo Angled Eyeliner Brush - I use this when I use my gel liners. Works fab and you get a nice steady line and easy to angle with. Also sometimes I use this to dip into a black shadow and lightly tap onto my lower lash line for a smoky look.EcoTools Kabuki Brush - I finish off my makeup with this dipped into a little bit of loose powder Stila Double Sided Eyeshadow/liner brush - I love shadow brushes. The amount of makeup you can do with eyeshadow brushes is crazy. But when I'm lazy and don't want to try anything new with my eyes I use this brush. The bigger side is used for an all over neutral color on my lid and the thinner side I use with a dark color to fill in my crease.MAC 116 Blush Brush - blush brushes are so important in how it applies onto your cheek. You don't want it to big or else you'll just have bright pink cheeks so having it a bit smaller gives you a more concentrated area and then being able to have control over how much area it goes over.

If you are looking for a good set to start with, I recommend this for your face basics. You can use the big fluffy brushes for your powder and overall setting of your makeup, and it also comes with a concealer brush and a eye shading brush which is awesome for blending your shadows.

This set is perfect for all your eye shadow application. I like to use the big fluffy ones to give my lids an all over color or use it in a light color to highlight just under the brow bone. The others are great to apply the shadows either all over or with the smaller ones, you get a more precise application of where exactly you want the shadow to go which for me is usually just in the outer or inner corners of my eyes. Because my eyes are small, I don't like to do one all over color and instead do a light shade on the inside corner and a darker shade on the outside corner so I use different brushes for those. Then you can use the middle fluff brush to blend the two together in the middle of your lid. Best of all both of these sets are less than $10!

I recommend EcoTools because the price is great and I haven't had trouble with their brushes losing bristles, getting stuck in my make up or finding random bristles on my face after I used it which has happened to me with other cheaper brands.

If you are looking to invest in brushes, Bobbi Brown has a set of Basic Brushes. It comes with six brushes: Concealer, Foundation, Face Blender, Eyeshadow, Eyeliner and Eyebrow, which gives you everything you need for a great basic set. I actually started out with Bobbi Brown brushes but over the years had to get rid of a few and have since replaced them but I have always liked her brushes.

There is definitely a difference between cheap make up brushes and expensive ones. The expensive ones hold onto the makeup a bit better, apply smoother and last WAY longer. And as I mentioned above, you don't get the fall out of the bristles which is one of my pet peeves.

If you want something in an in between price point and a little more than just basic brushes, I have this Sephora set and highly recommend it. The only thing is the bristles are a bit harder than I prefer and I don't love the powder brush (it's a bit thick and takes a bit more powder than I like) however, it's a great price for the set and the brushes are good quality.

Sep 26, 2012

I've got such a sweet tooth and I try super hard to stay away from sweets when I'm trying to be healthy. I substitute my cravings for sugar with fruit but a baked good is a baked good and can not be replaced. I had a bunch of raisins that I wanted to use up so thought to try out a healthy oatmeal raisin cookie. Now I know that healthy probably isn't a great word for a cookie as a cookie is still a treat and something that you should indulge in but these cookies use whole wheat flour, ground flaxseed and honey which means no butter and less sugar so in my world, that's definitely healthy. The best part is that they are totally yummy and do not taste "healthy" at all. It's a great replacement when you are craving oatmeal cookies and you can even sub the raisins with chocolate chips. My husband requested peanut butter chips and they tasted great with those too!

I had bought ground flaxseed meal as I had read that it was a replacement for butter in baking so this was my first time using it. You can't really taste it, maybe just a hint of a nutty flavor but it seems to be a fab replacement for butter so I will be working it into other recipes.

Sep 25, 2012

I've been a long time lover of velvet. I remember in college when I had a pair of velvet pants that I LOVED. Like I wore them to death and probably cried when I finally had to retire them. Well, I'm happy to see that velvet has finally returned as a trend.

This outfit of jeans, button down and blazer
is one of my favorite looks for the fall and really, it's one of those
outfits that fit everyone. Having fun
with different textures like velvet can add some personality to
it as most people probably don't expect velvet jeans!

Velvet shoes! I love them. You don't need a lot when pairing these shoes with an outfit so I thought a LBD with some pretty jewelry and gold accents would be a perfect for a fancy evening out. I'm going to be wearing something very similar for my birthday dinner!

Sep 21, 2012

On Monday you guys got to see the outfit that I put together for $150 and now I get to give YOU a chance to win $150 from Ebates! Yup, $150 to buy whatever you want and if you create a look, I'd love to see it!

I'm so excited that Ebates is finally doing cashback for Amazon! It's not all of Amazon but women's clothing is included and from my previous post you know that it's my new place to find some great pieces. You can get 3% cashback from your purchase. I'm prepping for the colder days of fall and winter already and loving these sweaters and blazers (and all of them are 50% off or more).

Other stores with double cash back right now are J Crew at 6%, Sephora is 8%, Macy's is 6%, Nordstrom is 5% and Saks is 6%! Just don't forget to click through Ebates before you checkout to get your cash back!

Please enter through the widget below. I just need to make sure that you are an Ebates member and that you follow me/my blog in one way or another and that's it! Entries will be open for one week and then I'll choose the winner and notify them by email. Ebates will be handing the prize fulfillment.

Sep 20, 2012

Oh and one more thing since I'm loving my Rockstar jeans so much wanted share this video with you!

Old Navy had a fab fashion show last week in NYC to show
off The Rockstar jeans and just how well they fit every body type. It's
a fun video and really does show how they fit every kind of body type. Watch it here!

I got to try out a pair of jeans from The Rockstar line at Old Navy and first of all, they had so many colors! I wanted to try them all on but I didn't have much time so I grabbed the 3 that jumped out at me the most. Yellow, purple and mustard.
They all were fun and I ended up going with purple as I knew they would go with a ton in my closet although the mustard ones were a close 2nd. Also tried on their cute Polka Dot Chambray shirt with my jeans, isn't it cute?

If you follow me on instagram, you've probably already seen these photos but now you get to see a day in the life of my Rockstar jeans! I paired them casually for a walk with my dogs and had a mid day snack at Top Pot Doughnuts.

We had dinner at Branzino which is a great little Italian restaurant in Belltown. The Antipasti Platter was amazing! Whenever I go there I get the Chicken Piccata and it never disappoints!

The jeans fit really nicely and as I wore them through the day, the
stretch a bit but not a lot, just enough to make them a bit more
comfortable. Also, note on the sizing, these run small so I had to go
up one size from my regular sizing. And, I just happen to know that
starting today, the entire line of The Rockstars are on sale for $19! Great time to stock up on some new colors for the fall.

The Rockstars at Old Navy are a perfect fit for every body.

Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Old Navy via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Old Navy.

Sep 19, 2012

I am so excited to be a part of Glam's Beauty Board and have lots of awesome products to review for you guys! They sent a box full of beauty products some that I already loved and some that I was newly introduced to. I often switch products with the change of seasons as Seattle fall and winter is so much more harsh on my skin because of the cold and wind and all these products will be great to use in the upcoming months.

I always wear sunscreen and love that the Eucerin Every Day Protective Moisturizing Body Lotion has SPF 15 so I can use this when I want some sort of sun protection without having to put on my regular sunscreen. It's fragrance free and goes on smoothly and doesn't leave you feeling sticky.

My hair is a bit on the oily side so I tend to stay away from hair products that have oil in them. The Dove Nutritive Therapy, Nourishing Oil Care Shampoo and Conditioner though actually was great for my hair. It didn't make it greasy or weight it down which, for somebody with a lot of hair, is what I look for in hair products. It uses natural almond and mineral oils to help reduce frizz.

I had never heard of this brand before but I'm sold as the La Face PUR Purifying Facial Wash has been great! It's a bit creamy and doesn't lather too much (I don't like too much lather while washing my face). It's a cleanser and toner in one and does a great job of taking off all my makeup. I use this with my Clarisonic and the two together is a perfect combination.

I'm not a "wash and go" kind of girl. I love styling my hair after I
wash it and I take lots of steps to help with the styling. I've been a
long time fan of Ojon products and so was excited to try out the Ojon Super Sleek Restorative Blowout Perfector.
This is heat activated and helps give
you that smooth, sleek hair after blow drying. If I don't use this while
blow drying, I do notice that my hair is noticeably more frizzier. I
highly recommend this!

Sep 18, 2012

THANK YOU so much to everyone who entered my giveaway! Just a quick post to announce the winners.

I've chosen two winners and they are.. Portia G. and Colleen B.! Congrats! Check your email as I've already sent both of you messages. As soon as I hear back, I'll get the prizes out as soon as I can!

Also, Dove was kind enough to send me a few samples of the Dove Clinical Protection and I wanted to do a more thorough review. As I mentioned I've been hitting the gym up to 5 times a week lately so it's definitely gotten a lot of use and made to work! It's got a great clean scent and definitely keeps the sweat away. The best part is, I don't have to worry about being the stinky one at the gym. If I could, I would pass this out to everyone in my yoga class. HAHA! I love yoga but with all the deep breathing, sometimes all I can concentrate on is on how the person next to me smells (and not in a good way). It's probably the close proximity and the large amount of people in the class which probably doesn't help, but at least with my Dove deodorant, I don't have to be the stinky person! (or at least I hope I'm not!)

Thank you to Dove for supplying the giveaway prize and for the samples!

Ebates asked me to participate in a challenge to create an outfit for less than $150 and I was all over it! I don't consider myself super frugal but I do like bargains and discounts and most often wait for things to go on sale or get a discount code to buy them. I was able to put my outfit together for well under $150 and that doesn't even include the cash back that I will be getting from Ebates!

If you don't happen to know about Ebates, it's an awesome site that gives you cash back whenever you shop online! All you do is go to Ebates, find the store that you are going to be shopping at, it will list the % back that you will receive from your order total and then you just click through do your shopping and once it's been verified that your purchase has gone through, the money goes into your ebates account! It's pretty awesome just to get anything back on something that I probably would've bought anyway. Long time readers know how much I love ebates as I've written about them quite a bit. I do almost all my shopping online so I am always checking ebates before I buy anything. Anyway, you can find out more about my outfit as I'm guest posting over on the Ebates blog today. And also check out the other lovely bloggers participating,

They'll also be guest posting through the week. I can't wait to see the outfits they got!

I cheated later on by adding a bracelet from my line but I had to, it went so well with it! I'm loving our new pave line, have you checked it out yet? We're working really hard on increasing the quality of our designs and I'm so proud of our latest collection.

Disclosure: I was compensated by Ebates to purchase the outfit, all opinions are of my own.

Sep 14, 2012

I love this weather where it's cooling down a bit but still not gray and rainy just yet. I love being able to wear skirts and shorts in this weather so thought I'd have a little fun putting together some outfits with pieces that I already have with pieces I want to add to my closet.

I recently discovered that Amazonhas some amazing deals on clothing. I had no idea as I usually buy necessities or techie stuff on Amazon and have never really checked out their fashion section until recently. I love this Amanda Uprichard dress that was $211 and I got it for $56! (It's now marked down to $49) It's a gorgeous dress on and love the pleating and the print. I can wear it now but will definitely wearing it with black tights and boots for the fall. I got this in Petite and it fits perfectly.

Sep 12, 2012

I mentioned a few weeks ago about having fallen off the workout wagon this summer and stopped working out for a bit. I've always been pretty active, working out 4-5 times a week but once I stop, I pretty much just stop going altogether. A part of that was my health problems and me being too sick to do any physical activity but a big part of what was going on was in my head as well. I kept on giving into excuses as to why I shouldn't work out and how it would affect me and how awful I felt after working out (which is partly true, working out sometimes makes me feel more sick) but these past 2 weeks I decided I wasn't going to let my health issues get to me and just made myself go. I've been able to get to the gym 5 days a week alternating circuit training and yoga and it's made a huge difference in how I feel all around. I admit, sitting around and making excuses was much easier than taking an hour and a half of my day to go work out but now that I'm in a routine, I hope to keep it up and not fall back to my excuses. It's not exactly something "new" but it's definitely a "renew" to what I was doing and it certainly feels good to keep up with my health goals and hopefully will help out with my health issues as well. With the transition of summer to fall I think now is the perfect time to kick old (bad) habits and make a change!

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Holding on to the last bit of summer! I know my days of wearing shorts are numbered so I've been trying to wear them as much as I can. Just love the J Crew 3" shorts. I have so many pairs and picked up another pair this past weekend as they are all on sale in stores too.

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone who's entered into my giveaway. I've been loving reading your entries and finding out where a lot of you need to be your most confident. I can totally relate to so many of you! If you haven't yet, enter here, I'll be choosing the winner next week.